Showing results by author "Michelle Vernal" in All Categories

Ireland, 1920. ‘Please. Don’t take her from me. Have some mercy, Sister. Just a moment longer.’ She clutched the bundle to her chest even tighter. But she couldn’t stop them. Hearing her baby’s cries echo in the hallway, she swore that one day they would be together again… When the man she thought she’d marry suddenly disappears Maudie O’Connor is heartbroken. Then she finds out she’s pregnant. Refusing her pleas to keep the baby, her family send her to St Patrick’s Mother and Baby Home in disgrace.

When Aisling O’Mara traded her high-flying career for the chaos of running her family’s Dublin guesthouse, she knew it wouldn’t be easy. With a menopausal receptionist who speaks her mind, a cleaner who believes in resting more than scrubbing, a hot-tempered cook, and a cunning fox who treats the rubbish bin like an all-you-can-eat buffet, every day is an adventure. Add in a revolving door of quirky guests, and O’Mara’s is never dull.

Roisin O’Mara. Rosi regrets a lot of things. She regrets having just scoffed the out-of-date chocolate bar she found down the bottom of her bag and the cheese she ate before bed the night before—it gave her the strangest dreams. Her mammy always told her not to eat cheese before bed. She should have listened, just like when Mammy asked if marrying Colin was the right choice because that’s her biggest regret.

Lately, Moira O’Mara has been wearing a secretive Mona Lisa smile, leaving her sister Aisling—and the rest of the family—dying to know what she’s up to. But Moira’s not ready to spill the beans about the new man in her life just yet. They already tease her about her love for a good party (she’s Irish, after all—what’s life without a little fun?), so for now, her romance is staying firmly under wraps.

Moira and Maureen O’Mara have left their home at O'Mara's Irish Guesthouse overlooking St Stephen's Green. They're off to spend quality time away together, but they aren’t on your usual mother-daughter trip. Oh no, Moira and her mammy have just arrived in Vietnam! It’s Maureen’s dream to sail on a Junk (who knew?), and as for Moira, she’s come along for the ride under duress. Maureen feels her youngest daughter's floundering, and this trip might just be the making of her.

1944 - The Isle of Wight: 16 year-old Constance’s life on the island is sheltered until the death of her brother, brings the reality of war crashing down around her. He leaves behind his pregnant widow, Ginny. When Constance meets a handsome Canadian airforce man, she’s eager to escape her grief and be swept up by first love. It’s a love which has ramifications she could never envisage. Present day: When young British backpacker, Isabel Stark happens across a car accident on a lonely stretch of road in the South Island of New Zealand her life changes forever.

Thirty-four-year-old Jess is perfectly happy living the single life as a journalist in bustling Dublin – if only her mother would stop trying to set her up. She has the perfect escape when, working on her next column, she finds a vintage children’s book with a mysterious dedication to a little girl. Her research leads to a tumbledown farmhouse in a tiny Irish village. But grumpy, infuriatingly handsome owner Owen is a spanner in her story…

Thirty-four-year-old Shannon is heartbroken following an unexpected breakup. Seasonal joy is the last thing on her mind, as she wonders if she’ll ever find the kind of long-lasting love she’s always dreamed of. Even the comforting distractions of her big Irish family can’t cheer her up. Then things get even worse when Shannon slips over on the ice and finds herself red-faced in the arms of a gorgeous American man....

Veronica and Gabe met when they were children at ballet class, and by the time they’d reached their teens, they knew they’d be dancing together forever. Only Gabe’s mother had other ideas.... Twenty-something years later, Veronica no longer dances and life hasn’t turned out how she thought it would. She’s divorced with a needy ex-husband, monosyllabic teenage sons, a sister who fancies herself as a long in the tooth ‘it girl’ and a mother who’s recently moved into a care home.

Thirty-two-year-old Imogen Kelly is meant to be living her best life in Dublin but the bright lights of the city aren’t making her truly happy. So she leaps at the chance to take on an interior design job at the big country manor at the edge of Emerald Bay. It also gives Imogen an excuse to return to the place where she spent an unforgettable summer with her first love, Lachlan Leslie, the heir to Benmore House.

When twenty-three-year-old Hannah Kelly finds out that the beautiful rolling hills around her hometown could be destroyed by a new building development, she rushes back to Emerald Bay to rally the community. But arriving home at The Shamrock Inn, there’s another shock in store… the handsome and sparkling-eyed lead developer, Tom Flynn, has checked in as a guest. Is this Hannah’s chance to save the village?

When 24-year-old Ava Kelly and her adventurous twin Grace return home to The Shamrock Inn, their Ma’s favourite baubles bring back so many memories of Christmases past. They have always done everything together, even leaving their little Irish village for the excitement of London. But with the locket her handsome ex Shane gave her hanging just above her heart, Ava has just one wish this festive season....

Grace really needs someone to help cover the rent for her London flat, but Christopher Dorrance? Everyone in the little Irish village of Emerald Bay knows about the feud between their families, though no one knows how it started. But, both being in a tight spot, they try and make it work, swearing to tell no one back home. Until a mutual friend and her son in the bay are left homeless after a storm. Grace and Christopher must head back to Ireland to help together.